An America without privacy – Here’s the thing, and in this case, I’m directly addressing those so-called “representatives” we send to Washington theoretically on our behalf. It’s a simple concept, so I want you to say it out loud, roll it around in your mouth, and think on it. The Constitution must not end where the digital domain begins.

How do you know if an anti-virus test is any good? – Anti-virus tests are a bit of a minefield. Why are they all different? How do you know who to believe? What makes one test better than another, or are they all equally brilliant/useless/biased/random? John Hawes takes a look.

Windows Repair (All In One) – A couple of friends of mine recently ran into a situation where the windows updates service was broken on a computer they were working. The fix in this situation was not a fix that everyday computer user would want to attempt, due to edits to the registry being required. As a result of this specific situation I started to explore around for an easier solution; and, just by chance happened across a utility called Windows Repair (All In One), that not only will fix the Windows Update service, but a whole host of Windows OS based problems.

Smaller Windows 8 tablets will be huge – Microsoft has confirmed that smaller Windows 8 tablets will come to market in the near future. These will fill a gap in the Windows ecosystem and boost demand for Windows 8 by addressing key downsides to the early Surface tablets.

In Boston manhunt, online detectives flourish – The intensive manhunt for the bombers behind the deadly Boston Marathon attacks didn’t take place only on the streets with professional police officers and SWAT teams. In an era of digital interactivity, it also unfolded around the country from laptops and desk chairs filled with regular folks.

Boston drama grips television networks – So much for scripted police procedurals. The marathon manhunt in Boston was a real-life drama that kept the biggest television networks and their viewers on edge for most of the day and into Friday evening, with a city’s safety hanging in the balance. It had a prime-time conclusion, too. Shortly before 9 p.m. EDT, and three hours after the sound of gunfire indicated the end might be near, Boston police announced that the second suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing had been taken into custody.

Security:

Trojan horse malware destroys delivery files to hide its tactics – The Trojan downloader, called Win32/Nemim.gen!A, is the latest example of how malware writers are using sophisticated techniques to protect their own trade secrets. The Trojan essentially makes downloaded component files irrecoverable, so they cannot be isolated and analyzed.

8 tips for a security incident handling plan – Most of us know that there is no such thing as 100% security, and that – unfortunately – it’s only a matter of time until a security incident occurs. It’s a vast topic, but here are 8 tips that you can keep in your back pocket should that day come.

Widely used routers easy to hack even by remote attackers – Security researchers have tested thirteen widely used small office/home office routers and wireless access points, and have discovered that every single one of them has critical security vulnerabilities that allow local and remote attackers to take control of the device.

Sony Pictures LulzSec hacker sentenced– 25-year-old LulzSec hacker Cody Kretsinger (aka “recursion”) has been sentenced to spend one year in prison for his involvement in the Sony Pictures Entertainment hack that resulted in the the compromise of over one million user accounts. After his release he will also have to pay $605,000 in restitution and perform 1,000 hours of community service.

Yahoo CEO reaffirms decision to prohibit telecommuting – Mayer decided to break her silence on the decision this week at the Great Place to Work conference in Los Angeles, an ironic venue, since her telecommuting decision, in the eyes of many, made her company a little-less-great place to work.

Webopedia Daily:

Apache Hbase – Apache HBase (HBase) is the Hadoop database. It is a distributed, scalable, big data store. HBase is a sub-project of the Apache Hadoop project and is used to provide real-time read and write access to your big data. According to The Apache Software Foundation, the primary objective of Apache HBase is the hosting of very large tables (billions of rows X millions of columns) atop clusters of commodity hardware.

Games and Entertainment:

Gamma World – At first, there was Dungeons & Dragons. My initial exposure to it was a short game at church camp, played in the cabin one rainy day with a small group of kids. The concept of playing a “role” and creating a “character” to act out was immediately recognizable. It fit in my brain like a key in a lock. This was something I could do, but I didn’t want to play the characters – I wanted to run the game. More than that, I wanted to create the environment.

The 10 Best iPod touch Games – The iPhone and iPad aren’t the only way to take advantage of the great games on iOS. Check out our list of the best iPod touch games around.

Off Topic (Sort of):

Research shows Hurricane Sandy shook ground on West Coast – When Hurricane Sandy roared ashore on the Northeast coast last October, it not only caused flooding, but it also shook the ground as far away as the West Coast, triggering seismometers monitoring vibrations in the Earth’s crust. Scientists announced their findings about the massive storm at the Seismological Society of America’s annual meeting, which wraps up today in Salt Lake City.

Chinese firm deluged with applications for e-smut appraising job – A Chinese company has received 5,000 resumes and 300,000 emails expressing interest after it advertised for a “chief appraiser” of pornography. Safety Alliance, a company looking to offer web filtering in the already-restricted Middle Kingdom internet, is recruiting five people to check for obscene or “harmful” content online, as well as a “Chief Pornography Identification Officer” at a salary of 200,000 yuan ($32,375), according to its advertisement on the Chinese social media site Sina Weibo,

Samsung explores touchless tablet interaction with brainwave technology – Try and wrap this one around your noggin. Samsung is currently working with researchers at the University of Texas on a project involving EEG caps that harnesses the power of one’s mind to control tablets and smartphones, and if that weren’t enough, the company’s actually hoping to take it mainstream. Now, before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let’s be clear: in its current stage, the system is cumbersome and aimed at those with disabilities, but Samsung’s already proven that it’s interested in alternative input methods, and this could certainly be the logical conclusion.

Wise Disk Cleaner 7.81 – Have you ever been worried about a large number of temporary files and junk files creating by using computer everyday, what’s more, over time these files take up more and more of your disk space and slow down your PC? Yes, Wise Disk Cleaner Free can help you to solve your problems. It is a software program for freeing up disk space by deleting junk files and temporary files. This free disk cleaning tool can run almost all Windows OS including Windows 7, Windows 2008 Server, Windows Vista, Windows XP etc.

4 responses to “Tech Thoughts Daily Net News – April 21, 2013”

“An American Without Privacy”
I’m one of those folks and so is everyone else who uses the internet on a regular basis. It’s a fact of life and something that unless you never use the internet, can’t be avoided.
Having said that, you are still the one who controls what you share. Never share or post anything you don’t intend to be available to everyone in the world. Once shared, you also can’t take it back as many in politics have already found out……
That still doesn’t mean that CISPA should be passed by those in Washington who “assume” they know better than those that elected them.
Politicians seem to forget that they were elected to represent the folks who put them in office. We didn’t elect any of you so you can fulfill your own agenda.
Privacy can only be achieved by never sharing any part of yourself publicly. I haven’t yet figured out how to do that and still be a functioning part of this society.

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